


Careful

by magictodestroy



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: AU, Budding Romance, F/F, It got longer, Kissing, Sunbathing, Wrestling, mention of pariston
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 03:28:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13825521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magictodestroy/pseuds/magictodestroy
Summary: Cheadle Yorkshire and Neferpitou slowly fall in love in a rehabilitation centre for Chimera Ants.





	1. Chapter 1

Neferpitou lay on the floor in a patch of sunlight, tail twitching idly. She had stripped, and the sun was warm and delicious. She purred contentedly and stretched and rolled. Her claws scratched at the carpet. 

'Oh. I didn't know anyone was in here.' Cheadle Yorkshire stood in the doorway in a towel. 

'I am,' Pitou said. 

Cheadle nodded. 'I see we had the same idea.'

It was the middle of winter and bitterly cold outside. But the front room faced the afternoon sun, and the big windows let in enough light that the room got hot enough to trick you into thinking that it was summer. 

Neferpitou was in the facility to be rehabilitated and learn how to live a safe life with humans. Cheadle was there to do research. 

Cheadle lay down on the rug beside Pitou. She stretched out, towel wrapped loosely around her. 

Pitou watched her, trying to determine if she was scared. Most people were scared of her, but Cheadle seemed relaxed. She was rubbing sun lotion on her skin. 

'So you don't burn?' Pitou said. 

Cheadle nodded. 'That's right.'

'I don't burn.' Pitou touched Cheadle's skin curiously. It was thin — fragile, really — and Pitou could see her muscles, veins, and bones beneath it. They were fragile too. 

Cheadle looked at Pitou. She twitched, but she didn't pull away. 

'You're weak,' Pitou said. 

Cheadle stiffened. 

Pitou pulled her hand back. She rolled onto her side and smiled playfully. 

'Are you scared?'

'I'm not weak.' Cheadle sat up and rubbed lotion onto her feet and up her legs. 

'No?' Pitou's tail twitched. 'Maybe weak isn't the right word.' She rubbed at her chin. 'You're delicate.'

Cheadle huffed, and her messy green hair bounced up off her face for a moment. 

'I'm not delicate.'

'No? Hmm...' Pitou purred. 'Then what are you?'

'I don't care to tell you, thanks.' Cheadle rubbed at her back, trying to get the lotion on it. 

'I can get that for you,' Pitou said. 

Cheadle hesitated for a moment before handing the lotion to Pitou. 

'Thanks,' she said. 

Pitou carefully rubbed the lotion over Cheadle's skin. The lotion was warm and a bit slippery. It melted from white to clear as it spread. 

'Thank you,' Cheadle said again when Pitou was done. She settled face down on the rug, head pressed against one arm. 

'Do you like being alive?' Pitou asked, scratching at the rug again. 

Cheadle glanced at her.

'As a concept,' Pitou said. 'Not necessarily specifically.'

'I do,' Cheadle said. She put her head down again.

'I love it,' Pitou said. 'Even when I get bored.'

'Hmm,' Cheadle murmured against her arm. 

Pitou pushed gently against her shoulder. 

Cheadle lifted her head a little. 'What?'

'Do you hate us? A lot of people hate us.' Pitou searched Cheadle’s face. ‘They call us monsters.' 

'I don't hate you,' Cheadle said. 'I don't group you all together to pass judgement. Humans have done horrible things to other humans too. But I don't hate all humans.'

'Hmm...' Pitou sat cross legged. 'What about me? Do you hate me?'

'I don't know you well enough to like you or hate you.’

'I see.' Pitou's red eyes flashed. 'Do you think I'm a monster?'

Cheadle turned onto her side and studied Pitou carefully for a long while. 

'Do you think you're a monster?' she asked finally. 

Pitou stretched and yawned. 'To humans I am. I don't mind it.'

'I see.' Cheadle ran a hand through her hair and let it fall again. 'I've never put much weight into what other people think of me either.'

Pitou nodded. She crept closer to Cheadle. Her sun lotion smelt nice, and she was pretty in a delicate kind of way that Pitou was sure she'd deny. 

'Are you adjusting to normal life?' Cheadle asked. 

'Maybe.' Pitou purred. 

'Hmm.' Cheadle blinked lazily at Pitou. 'I could fall asleep here.'

Pitou petted Cheadle's hair. It was soft and shifted as she stroked it, falling across the scarlet rug. Cheadle's golden brown lashes fluttered. 

'Do you ever get bored?' Pitou asked. She petted Cheadle's hair and back. She felt delicate and scarcely real. But there was a strength to her in spirit that interested Pitou. 

'More than most people. Less than some.'

‘I think I’m that way too.’ Pitou kept staring. 

Cheadle touched her arm. 'You can kiss me, you know.'

Pitou’s eyes lit up. ‘That’s what I wanted. I didn’t even know.’

She bent and kissed the side of Cheadle's face where her silky hair fell in a green tangle. Cheadle turned her head, and their lips brushed. 

Pitou trembled. It felt wild and electric. They kissed again, warm and soft. 

Pitou fell on top of Cheadle and kissed her hard. She rolled over and then Cheadle was on top, hair falling around her face, towel left behind.

Pitou wrapped her strong legs around Cheadle and drew her closer. The world was bright and spotted with flashes of green as they rolled again. 

Cheadle fell under Pitou and closed her eyes. Pitou kissed her delicately, in awe of the way her chest rose and fell as she breathed. 

Cheadle's eyes opened slowly. 'Well,' she said and sat up. 

Pitou let her, falling off to one side. Cheadle wrapped herself in her towel again. She sat still for awhile, gazing out the window. Pitou did the same. The bare trees' shadows made lace over the snow. 

'That was nice,' Cheadle said.

'Yes, I thought so.' Pitou crouched forward. 'But you're scared now?'

'I'm not.' Cheadle didn't look away from the window. 'I'm tired.'

'You're delicate,' Pitou said. 

Cheadle didn't object that time. She just shrugged. 'I'm careful.'

Pitou nodded. That was what Cheadle was. She was careful. With careful eyes and a careful mind and strong, careful hands. 

Pitou took Cheadle's hand. 

'I won't hurt you.'

'Mm,' Cheadle said. 'I've had a lot of people promise that.'

'And how many monsters?'

Cheadle started and then laughed. 'Just you and Pariston.'

Pitou smiled. 

Cheadle looked down at their hands. Pitou followed her gaze. Cheadle’s hand was small with short, strong fingers. It looked tiny against Pitou’s clawed hand. 

‘Are you careful too?’ Cheadle whispered. 

‘I can be,’ Pitou said. 

‘Hmm.’ Cheadle looked out across the yard. ‘It’s warm here.’

‘It is warm.’


	2. Chapter 2

Cheadle woke up slowly. She slid out of the narrow bed with the white iron frame she’d spent the night in. The room was small. She’d left the door open for air, and she could see Kaito in the room across the hall, doing stretches. Alluka was with her, following her lead. 

Kaito bent to touch her toes and then slide her arms around her legs, head resting close to her ankles. Alluka giggled and tried copying her, not really making it. Kaito smiled, hair a dizzy red mess falling to the floor. 

Cheadle slid off her night gown and grabbed her towel. She wrapped it around herself and went down the hall to the bathroom. Spinner and Banana were already in the bathroom showering. 

Cheadle nodded at them. ‘Morning.’

‘Morning,’ they answered over each other. 

Spinner shoved at Banana, and Banana shoved back, laughing. She pulled the shower head off the wall and sprayed Spinner. Spinner did the same with hers. 

Cheadle smiled, shook her head. She hung up her towel and brushed her teeth. It had been awhile since she had last lived in dormitory style housing. And it had been even longer since she’d lived with such young people. She flossed and washed her face. 

The girls finished their shower and scampered off wrapped in their towels. Cheadle put her hair up in a bun and took over one of the showers. She let the water run down her body, avoided wetting her hair. 

She thought about yesterday and how she’d kissed Pitou in the front room and how warm and nice it had been. Pitou had beautiful eyes. She had an energy to her that was so strong it was terrifying. She was exactly the sort of thing that Cheadle should avoid. Too alive and too dangerous. But for all her talk about avoiding danger, Cheadle was fascinated by it. 

Kaito and Alluka came in together. They hung up their towels and took over the other shower. Kaito shampooed Alluka’s hair. Kaito had more or less adopted Alluka as a younger sister. 

Cheadle smiled. She washed up with a bar of cracked pepper soap and finished with an in shower lavender body wash. She rinsed and turned off the shower. 

Back in her temporary room, she dressed in simple scrubs and slippers. She grabbed a banana for breakfast and ate it on the way to the lab. She passed Killua in the hallway. He was sitting on the deep windowsill of one of the many square windows in the hall. She ruffled up his hair as she passed him, and he sputtered out a protest that he didn’t really mean. 

‘Tell it to the judge,’ she said and patted his shoulder. 

He groaned and went back to texting. 

Cheadle continued on her way. She swiped her card at the door and went into the lab. 

Pitou was in the lab. 

She was bent over a microscope, hair back in a tight bun, wearing a lab coat over scrubs, goggles hanging around her neck. 

Leorio was in the lab too. He had a book open and was reducing a chemical in a beaker. 

‘Good morning, sir,’ he said to Cheadle. 

‘Good morning. Good morning, Pitou.’

Pitou looked up, and a smile crossed her face. ‘Good morning, Che.’ 

Cheadle smiled, and she felt herself blushing, which was always terribly noticeable against her green hair. 

Pitou nodded and looked back at her microscope. 

They worked in silence for a couple of hours, all three wrapped in their own work. Leorio finished his first and went over to Cheadle to see if she had something for him to do. She gave him so grunt work that she wasn’t in the mood to do, and he bounced off to it quickly. 

Cheadle only stopped working when her stomach was grumbling too loud for her to ignore it any longer, and Leorio was back saying, ‘Maybe we should take a break for lunch.’ 

They left the lab together and washed up together and went up for lunch together. 

Pitou kept stealing glances at Cheadle, eyes shining. She seemed to be very invested in Cheadle’s face. 

Leorio noticed and raised his eyebrows at Cheadle, smirking. 

She hit him gently on the arm, and that made him chuckle. 

They sat together at a table near one of the windows. There were a few tall potted plants beside them, and Pitou touched the leaves carefully and smelt them. 

‘How did you sleep?’ Leorio asked Cheadle. 

She shrugged. ‘I can’t wait to get a proper room.’ 

‘Why aren’t you in a proper room?’ Pitou said. 

‘They’re full,’ Cheadle said. ‘I’m in an old utility closet.’ She blew on her soup. 

‘Hmm,’ Pitou purred. 

Cheadle looked out the window. The truth was this building had never been meant for so many people to live in. It was an old military station only meant for a few people to live in, as a base for communications. But it was top secret and very remote, so the Hunter Association had converted it for use a rehabilitation facility for Chimera Ants. Cheadle was in charge of the operation, so she had of course given herself one of the less than ideal rooms. That’s what a leader would do. 

Killua was hiding out with his sister because they needed a place to hide from their family after he had kidnapped Alluka. Gon, Killua, Alluka, and Kaito were eating at one table. 

Pitou watched Cheadle, tail twitching. ‘I have a nice room,’ she said. 

‘That’s good.’ Cheadle dipped her grilled cheese into her soup. 

‘You could stay with me,’ Pitou continued. ‘I don’t have a room mate.’ 

‘That’s very nice of you to offer,’ Cheadle said. ‘But I’m really fine, thank you.’ 

‘Ow!’ Leorio yelled suddenly. 

He’d gotten a rubber band to the back of his head, shot off by either Gon or Killua. It was hard to tell. They were both laughing.

‘Brats!’ Leorio shouted at them. 

Cheadle smiled. Pitou’s tail was twitching faster now. She smiled at Cheadle. 

‘They’re playing,’ she said. 

‘Yes,’ Cheadle answered. 

‘I like playing,’ Pitou said. 

Cheadle nodded. ‘A lot of people do.’ 

Pitou brushed her foot against Cheadle’s under the table. ‘Do you like playing?’ 

Cheadle stared back. ‘I do.’ 

Pitou took her hand. ‘Good.’


End file.
